Book Review: How to Eat Your Bible by Nate Pickowicz

One thing that is always encouraged at church especially if you are a new believer is to read your Bible. Most churches provide Bible reading plans and you can also get many great plans online. Most of them are slow paced while others are very fast pace.

As the new year began, I am sure there are many who started with Genesis 1, which is what I did. By the end of next month, they will get to Leviticus and start losing interest because of all the sacrificial laws. God has given us His Word for life and godliness that we might become equipped for every good work yet the Bible remains on book shelfs collecting dust. Many Christians love the Bible, but they have no desire to read or study the Bible.

In his latest book, How to Eat Your Bible, Nate Pickowicz takes us on a journey on how not only to read the Bible, but actually enjoy it. The first thing Pickowicz points out is our desire for the Word. Do we actually crave the Bible like we would crave a burger? The Bible is there to teach us and point us to Christ. The Bible shows us how to have the mind of Christ and to obey God. Reading it, studying it, meditating, and memorizing it are ways to do that.

The Bible is a spiritual book that speaks the very words of God. The Bible is alive (see Hebrews 4:12), which is why one of the things Pickowicz suggests is to pray. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds as we engage the Scriptures. We must pray that God will also give a love for the Scriptures. Sometimes we approach the Bible as a textbook rather than a book with the words of God. We need the Spirit's help to love what is God-breathed. 

There are three areas that Pickowicz assist us in enjoying the Bible: Reading, Studying, and Using it. In reading the Bible, we see what is says, which most of us do very well because, if you are like me, you are a heavy reader and want to capture every word that was written. Studying the Bible is basically looking at what does the text mean. We have several tools at our disposal for us to use: study Bible, commentaries, concordances, etc. To enjoy the Word, we must know what it says and what it means. 

In Using the Bible, Pickowicz points out that we need to apply the Bible. The Bible has one interpretation but it has many applications. John 3:16 means the same thing for every believer but it can be applied to believers in many ways. We seek to have the Word apply in our lives so that we may live it out. 

In the end of the book, Pickowicz discusses a Bible reading plan that has helped him over the years. He calls it the seven-year Bible reading plan. This plan is a slow paced plan where you can consume the Bible in seven years and even take time to memorize scripture. Maybe even a whole book of the Bible. You start with the New Testament and eventually end in the Old Testament. He is not suggesting this is the plan you must use to read the Bible. This is simply a plan that has helped him. I have done a three plan and it was amazing reading the Bible in a way that did not seem fast pace. 

How to Eat Your Bible is the first great book of 2021 that I highly recommend for believers who want to devour the Word.

I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for a review.